8 Killed in accident on way to cemetery
Eight mourners who were on their way to bury a corpse died in an accident involving three vehicles on the outskirts of Akyem Achiase in the Eastern Region last Saturday.
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Seven of them died on the spot, while the eighth person died later at the Oda Government Hospital.
The bodies have been deposited at the morgue of the Oda Government Hospital awaiting autopsy, while 23 people who sustained injuries are receiving treatment at the same hospital.
Seven of the deceased have been identified as Isaac Amakye, Issah Ibrahim, Isaac Frimpong, Alexander Okyere (19), a student of Achiase Senior High School; Adwoa Ketewa, 43; Afia Mother, 41, and a male identified only as Attah, a cobbler at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra.
Th eighth person, a male, is yet to be identified.
The driver of the tipper truck, David Okine, is under police guard at the hospital.
On the way to cemetery
Confirming the accident to the Daily Graphic at Achiase, the Oda Divisional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr Albert Deletsa, said the mourners were on their way to the Achiase public cemetery to bury an employee of Zoomlion, Forson Adu, when the accident occurred.
He said around 12:30 p.m. when the mourners were some metres away from the cemetery, the driver of the tipper truck, with registration number AS 5907-Y, lost control of the vehicle due to brake failure and ran into a Hyundai Grace passenger bus, with registration number GX3879-13, which was carrying some of the mourners.
The bus, he said, also hit the rear of a taxi, with registration number GC6682-12, which was conveying Adu’s corpse to the cemetery.
Mr Deletsa stated that the three vehicles ran over a number of the mourners who were walking along the road, killing eight of them and injuring 23 others.
According to the MTTU Commander, the driver of the tipper truck claimed that another tipper truck crossed his vehicle and since his brake was faulty, he had no option but to run into the three other vehicles.
Injured
The injured on admission at the hospital include Esi Esima, Rose Botwe, Akosua Aboagyewaa, Comfort Amartey, Liticia Minta. The others are Gladys Mensah, Elijah Essel, Effah Boateng, Kwabena Anokye, Musah Alhaji, Samuel Gyamson, Frank Nkum, Seth Amoako, Stella Nyarko, Frank Agyiri and Kingsley Nyamekye (all from Achiase).
The rest are Kwadwo Misiso, Lartey Lamptey, Emmanuel Lartey and Solomon Lartey (all from Accra).
A medical officer at the Oda Government Hospital, Dr Atta-Larbi Sakyi, said he was working around the clock to save their lives.